We usually don’t think of shipping containers as fun or interesting places to hang out. Let’s face it, most of us don’t usually think of them at all. But this clever, low-budget office complex made from bright red shipping containers highlights the hidden infrastructure potential they hold. »7/18/15 6:00pm 7/18/15 6:00pm

Talk to a future-technology brand evangelist (sadly a real thing), and they’ll probably tell you that the Internet of Things is the next up-and-coming trend. But for the last 40 years, a very different kind of network of interconnected stuff has been quietly revolutionizing the global economy. »7/14/15 11:55pm 7/14/15 11:55pm

Shipping containers are a cornerstone of the world’s economy, but they’re also very, very heavy and completely dependent on cranes to be moved about. Except the SL-Tainer, which is the first container to be blessed with built-in legs so that it can actually lift itself. »6/23/15 9:23am 6/23/15 9:23am

What's great about this time lapse that shows a container ship moving around a dock is that it's not doing anything special and yet, the carefully orchestrated ballet of dropping off shipping containers is almost hypnotizing to watch. You get to follow the ship from dock to dock and see other boats move around it too. »3/26/15 9:30pm 3/26/15 9:30pm

If you live anywhere in the US, chances are that you have a product in your home right now that came through the Port of Los Angeles. The largest port in the Western hemisphere handles about a quarter of all cargo distributed throughout the country—about $1 billion a day. Now LA is working to make it the most…»3/17/15 2:40pm 3/17/15 2:40pm

On the quaint coast of Cornwall, near the town of Perranporth, there's a beach that's constantly covered in Lego. Tiny flippers, little plastic dragons, a brick here and there—these pieces have been washing ashore since a shipping accident in 1997 sent 4.8 million pieces into the sea nearby. And one-by-one, out they… »7/21/14 10:48am 7/21/14 10:48am

Drugs are illegal and often pretty bad for you. But who needs LSD when the world has talented designers like Masakazu Shirane and Saya Miyazaki. Last year, the Japanese duo took on the challenge of creating a mind-bending environment inside of a shipping container—and did they ever succeed. »7/18/14 6:23pm 7/18/14 6:23pm

As someone who's been inside a fair number of hotels, I do wonder about living in tiny-yet-functional spaces long-term. I'm intrigued by the idea of shipping-container workspaces and living spaces, and it looks like General Motors has been, too. »4/30/14 1:59pm 4/30/14 1:59pm

Just how many large mysterious objects can there be floating at sea? That's what many of us have wondered after the search for debris from Malaysia Airlines 370 turned up piece after piece of ocean trash. The search for flight 370 has focused our attention on empty patches of ocean and, in the process, shed light on… »4/02/14 1:40pm 4/02/14 1:40pm

Have you ever heard of a twistlock? Unless you're a stevedore, probably not. Yet this little mechanism is what makes it possible to stack shipping containers onto cargo ships larger than city blocks—enabling a global trade network that brought most of your belongings to your doorstep. And we have a relatively… »2/26/14 10:00am 2/26/14 10:00am

Apparently Long Beach, California, is the world's second busiest port, with shipping containers a fairly normal view for residents. It therefore figures architecture firm APHIDoIDEA has proposed a building built using 65 recycled shipping containers. »6/30/11 8:20am 6/30/11 8:20am

Look—we've all seen Dexter and The Wire. I don't have to spell out what happens in empty shipping containers. That's why these Staxxon folding containers make so much sense. Reducing kidnapping-related murders and carbon footprints all in one! [Flickr via GCaptain] »3/23/11 6:00pm 3/23/11 6:00pm

When a Manhattan resident needed another bedroom, the only obvious option was to build up, using a recycled shipping container. Not only did he save money, but he gained a view of the Empire State Building in the process. »10/29/10 5:40am 10/29/10 5:40am